Report: Hawks, Cavs, Lakers to Pursue LeBron and Carmelo Pairing

In addition to the Miami Heat‘s obvious desire to retain James by any means necessary and pursue Anthony if he urges them to do so, sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that theCleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks are among the teams mulling potential trades designed to clear enough cap space to be able to recruit the two stars and close friends.

The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, had begun exploring such machinations even before the opt outs of James and Anthony had become known, according to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne.

Sources say the timing of James making his opt out known six days before his deadline of Monday was done in part to give teams that may want to recruit him enough notice to pursue the needed roster alterations. This includes a Heat team less than two weeks removed from a lopsided NBA Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs that had James calling for upgrades to the roster “at every position.”

The same principle likely holds true for the Heat and their idea that they can lure Anthony to South Beach for less. This is only day two of what is sure to be a blockbuster summer.